The new universities will teach skills relevant to
Pakistan's major industries

Suhail
Yusuf
17 March 2006
Source: SciDev.Net

Pakistan is to build six science and engineering
universities over the next ten years.

President Pervez Musharraf announced the plans on Monday
(13 March) during a speech at Punjab University.

He said "state of the art" universities are
needed to train scientists and engineers who can contribute to Pakistan's
sustainable development, and help move the country away from its dependence on
agriculture.

Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) will oversee the project, which will start by building
a university in Sialkot.

SohailNaqvi, the HEC's
executive director, says the universities will do research and provide courses
relevant to Pakistan's major industries, including agriculture, textiles,
energy, and information technology.

Naqvi told SciDev.Net that staff for the universities would be
recruited from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea and
Sweden, which are also providing additional funding and technical assistance.

"Local faculty members will
also be sent abroad for training," he said.